Hermione's Boys: Draco
by akiismarina
Summary: Fourth installment of the Hermione's Boys series now finished . If you haven't read the first three please do so first. Hermione's new job leaves her partnered with someone unexpected. But she's not the only one bearing a hidden past. The unusual duo battles against the odds both in and out of work, coming to terms with the past and helping countless people in the process.
1. Chapter 1

It was a good six months before Lavender finally had to admit she was ready to take the reins of her new job. She'd tried to delay it, wanting to continue working with Hermione but Hermione had paved such a smooth path for her it was impossible to delay it anymore. Now that Hermione was planning on leaving at the end of the week, she was neck deep in planning a surprise going away party.

She wanted to throw a great one that would express just how grateful she was for her friend and how much they would all miss her. Fortunately she had the help of Harry and her new boyfriend.

True to her word, Hermione met Lavender for lunch the day after the party and openly shared anything she could think of having to do with Ron, many of which made her companion either burst out laughing or, more often, blush and glance scandalized around the tearoom. Each time Hermione laughed off the embarrassed reaction and teasingly scolded the witch for not paying attention. By the end of the week, Lavender was ready to ask Ron out to dinner at his favorite restaurant. Even with Hermione's blessing he was hesitant to agree. But after a month of informal, sporadic dates, he finally relaxed and within a few weeks they announced themselves as a couple. It positively killed her to not be able to tell anyone what Hermione'd done for her. Instead, she had to settle for small gestures, like bringing her a coffee every morning to try and express her gratitude and admiration. It killed her even more that Hermione seemed to make a point of meeting every one of her gestures with one of her own. At least this time there'd be no way for that to happen… she hoped.

**LINEBREAK**

The night of the party was a huge success. Lavender made sure that all of Hermione's friends and co-workers attended, including Shacklebot who, like her, was more than a little sad to see Hermione leave. The biggest surprise was the attendance of Hermione's parents – an idea Harry and Ron came up with and Harry, Sirius and Lupin spent the whole week orchestrating. The look the Minister gave the couple, and then three men clearly stated that the three had been operating entirely outside of the law. They didn't know how to feel about the fact that their reputation for bending the rules had even reached the Minister. Fortunately he decided to turn a blind eye to the whole thing by way of a present for Hermione, or they'd all be knee deep in shit.

Hermione shocked all those closest to her when she hugged Ron and Mrs. Weasley in greeting, making them both beam and blush to their ears in happiness. Over time she'd slowly moved on, talking to them more casually and even attending a few of the family dinners Molly invited everyone to. But never had she so openly and warmly spoken to either, much less come in any physical contact with them.

After she'd greeted and thanked everyone and been handed a flute of champagne, Hermione was accosted by a chorus of chants demanding a speech. Revolting against her as a whole, the crowd pushed the blushing woman to the back of the room and to stand on a chair. She tried several times to escape, but was always thwarted by a laughing Harry, Sirius or Lupin. Finally giving in, she stood straight and rubbed the neck of her neck with a nervous chuckle as the room became silent.

"Ummm… thank you. I can't believe how many of you came… and I didn't have a clue!" She smiled as soft laughter momentarily washed through the room at the memory of just how shocked she'd been. "I really can't thank you enough for arranging this all for me… ummm…" Hermione trailed off, her face red.

"What do you plan to do now?" Shacklebot called out. Everyone turned to her curiously, only a few having heard even a rumor about her plans.

"Traveling," Hermione smiled broadly. "I've been in contact with Professor McGonagall who told me about how Hogwarts has been helping people around the world affected by the war. Even now, there are so many people still trying to rebuild their towns, houses… lives. I've been helping however I can at home, but now I'll be working hands on."

Murmurs spread through the crowd. The only people not surprised included Ginny and Lavender, who as her closest girl friends were natural sources of advice on all things feminine. She'd also told her parents who weren't too thrilled about having her off the grid yet gain, but still supported her. However, the people she'd discussed the idea the most with, from its very birth, were her 'three musketeers' as they'd taken to secretly referring to themselves as. Time and shared history made her comfortable enough to trust Sirius and Harry. She wasn't sure why, but recently she'd begun to feel safer than ever in Lupin's presence. Rather than question the sudden change she simply choose to trust her instinct.

"What will you be doing, is it safe?" Mrs. Weasley now called, the concern in her voice not unnoticed.

"Perfectly. Volunteers travel to towns and villages assigned by Hogwarts based on requests with specific needs lists sent in to the school. We go in and supply all sorts of supplies and physical labor – basically whatever they need that we have the means to give. We aren't sure exactly who it will be yet, but I'll be partnered with a Potions Master and help to brew the potions on the go and distribute them in addition to us both helping with the usual jobs. The only reason for so much delay is that we're going to be one of the few teams working only as a duo so McGonagall is holding out to find a Master who she feels is skilled enough at defense for it be safe for us to travel." Hermione assured the group; she knew her former professor would never in a millions years let her go anywhere if she wasn't sure it would be safe. Already anticipating their next question she added, "I'll be leaving in a week to my first assignment. I'll meet my partner there."

"Here's to safe travels," Mr. Weasley raised his glass moments after Hermione's speech.

"To Hermione," Ginny added, raising her own glass.

"May she always be the amazing witch we know and love," called, meeting Hermione's eyes directly as she raised her own glass. Hermione blushed deeply as the crowed toasted her, murmuring their full-hearted agreement.


	2. Chapter 2

A week later Hermione landed in a small village in southern Germany, with the assistance of a portkey. After regaining her bearings she followed the instructions she'd memorized to a small tent on the outskirts of the ramshackle village. She walked quickly to distract herself from the weight of her luggage and the memory of the heartfelt good-byes she'd struggled through the night before. But even then, walking just outside the perimeter of the village, following it to her destination, it was impossible for her to not slow and take in the conditions of her first assignment.

She could tell that the houses were really just huts, and many of them had been reduced to mere lean-tos held up by scrap wood. People milled around in worm old rags, toddlers wore nothing at all, the cloth instead used for other things, mostly to patch up other clothing. The people were downtrodden and covered in dirt, but Hermione could see there was still a spark of life in the town. It was obvious they did their best to keep everything looking pleasant and clean as possible and worked hard to help each other was well. She could immediately see why McGonagall had chosen to send her here – the living conditions were starting to get the best of people with all sorts of illness and ailments already running through the population, and more just beginning to take hold. Her partner's hands would be full brewing cures and treatments for everyone; she was glad she'd thought to pack a decent supply of basic potions, shrunken in her magically expanded purse.

When she reached the specified point, she turned and began to hike through the woods, guiltily glad for the exhausting hike that let her turn from the depressing sight. She couldn't help but be glad they weren't going to be staying in the town. It was policy to not stay in town despite the extra travel time to and from camp because it was safer, but she was just grateful she'd have a reprieve from the town at the end of the day.

The tingle of protective charms over her skin alerted her when she got close to the sight. Muggles wouldn't be able to enter thanks to charms similar to those on Hogwarts, and people wishing to harm them would set off alarms. It was still a good ten minutes before Hermione reached the clearing she was looking for. There were half a dozen fires set up outside, each with a cauldron filled with various potions at various stages of brewing. Undoubtedly there were charms placed over each to keep the fire steady and protect against weather or tampering. Just beyond the field of cauldrons was a dark green tent, about twice as large as a normal muggle tent. When she stepped inside she wasn't surprised to see that the interior had been charmed into a full, small apartment and she was currently standing in the kitchen, which her partner had obviously turned into a workshop. The sound of approaching footsteps attracted her attention to the hall. She dropped her luggage and straightened her cloths in anticipation of finally meeting her partner.

"Granger?"

"Malfoy?"

* * *

Draco and Hermione remain frozen, suspended in time as each slowly recovered from the discovery that the other was to be their lone ally in their work. Not bothering to address one another, they quickly parted – Hermione to settle in and Draco to gather herbs, each needing time to get their thoughts together. It was close to dusk before Draco returned to find Hermione in the kitchen preparing and organizing his potion ingredients for him, slowly bringing order to the chaos created by his distraction with his work.

"I know we've had our problems in the past," she began, turning from her work to meet his eyes directly. Immediately their eyes locked, focusing completely on each other. "I also know how your father forced you and your mother to serve Voldemort. And that without you both, we'd all be dead," Hermione continued, seeing Draco flinch at Voldemort's name. Almost as much as he flinched at the mention of his father. "What I mean is… I hope we can move beyond the past. We're both here for a reason, so let's do our jobs. Okay?"

Draco nodded quietly. He had been raised to look down on people like her, but he never wanted to hurt people the way his father did. After the war ended, and his father was gone, he'd finally been able to outgrow his misconceptions of non-purebloods, just as his mother had. So he was glad that Hermione seemed to realize the change and was willing to offer up and olive branch. There was no doubt that if she didn't, there was no way he'd be able to do the same. Not with a clear conscience, knowing what he'd put her through.

* * *

_**Reviews make the pen flow faster...**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Gah! I'm SO sorry I mixed up and put a chapter from Lupin's story here. How embarrassing! Thank you so much to everyone who sent in a message to let me know - I have so many chapters in my Doc manager that I've been labeling them in diff languages & selected Tres instead of Trois. Here's the right one :)**_

* * *

Hermione and Draco travelled the world for well over a year, seeing just about every kind of person and creature there was to be seen. Every day they looked forward to getting out and seeing who else they could meet and how else they could help. It wasn't easy, but they loved their work. A lot of the times they'd end up in places a lot like the first village in southern Germany – the people were grateful for the help and worked hard to do their part. Normally people took better to Hermione than to Draco, for obvious reasons, but they treated them both with the upmost respect. Their success rate and the speed of their success were double that of other teams much larger than their own. Draco suspected it was because they ended up not only providing potions and the usual means of help but they boosted moral and hope. Well, Hermione did more so than he; she seemed to be able to connect and understand every one they met.

Other times weren't so nice. There would be people that thought they were there simply to serve, and were determined to let everyone else do the hard work. Others thrived on the chaos and destitution, using the towns for numerous illegal activities, victimizing anyone that crossed their path. There were many men who were too interested in Hermione for anyone's comfort. Some of them were harmless, but others could get over the top. He always kept her within hearing range, and then within eye sight after a group of wizards involved in muggle drug dealings cornered her. Their leader managed to steal a kiss and cop a feel before Hermione broke free and fought back. Draco arrived soon after, hearing her screams, both to help and prevent her from killing someone. Just like all the others they encountered like this group, they were quickly put into a body bind, stunned and sent off with a portkey to the authorities.

Just as common were the people who simply despised them simple because of who they were. New laws in place made it possible for someone to be arrested simply for expressing extreme pure-blood racism or support for Voldemort. But that didn't stop many of the witches and wizards they'd met from harassing Hermione in every way they could, being careful to walk the line to avoid breaking the law and giving Hermione the right to attack. Her only protection was Draco's insistent presence. His bloodline was still considered pure, and his father's reputation made them all weary of him. It was even more common for Hermione's presence being the only protection afforded to Draco. Everyone knew his family ties, and many either didn't know or refused to believe his role in the war and change in beliefs. More than once he was outright attacked with curses, punches, spit, screams of accusations, and never once did he fight back. He was determined to prove he'd changed, so Hermione did all of the fighting for him. Seeing someone they knew had been personally hurt by the Malfoy family defend him so often and quickly was usually enough to slowly convince them to stop, though a few remained suspicious. It was almost laughable how many middle aged women implied they knew she was some sort of sex hostage and had plans to break her free.

What had started out as a tentative truce had quickly grown into a strong friendship as they learned to trust one another, each always there to protect the other from the less than pleasant aspects, namely people, of their work. Add that to living in seclusion the way they did and it wasn't long before they began to trust one another with much more than just their wellbeing. Despite being former enemies from two different worlds, they found it easy to confide in each other; much more than they'd ever confided in any of the others in their lives. Maybe it was, in some twisted way, because of their past it was so easy. Either way it wasn't uncommon for then to sit together a few nights a week, sipping firewhisky and talking.

They talked about work and Hogwarts – Hermione openly sharing her need to excel for fear of becoming useless to her friends and losing them, and becoming invisible like she'd been in the muggle world. Draco openly shared his frustration at always being second best and losing to someone he'd considered beneath him. He mentioned the heat he got from home for losing to her alluding to physical pain. It was not long after that they shared childhood memories. Hermione's were happy, but lonely; he learned that she'd become such an avid reader because her parents worked such long hours and she had no siblings so her main companions were books. He also learned how her love for books and the comfort they brought also added to her loneliness, no one wanted to play with the girl that always read, or the one that always knew the answers, or the one that was always so silent you forgot she was there. Hermione learned that Draco understood her loneliness better than most; even though he was always surrounded by people, they were only interested in his status and money, and knowing that was just as bad as being invincible. Where her parents had loved her dearly, but were borderline negligent in their frequent absence, his were always present but cold and in his father's case, cruel. Hermione was, sadly, not surprised to hear how brutally he would physically abuse his son or how it wasn't uncommon for Draco to hear the sounds of his own mother's rape. But neither ever said something to the other in an attempt to lean comfort, and Hermione kept her face blank as she listened to stories of his childhood, instinctively he wouldn't want her comfort or pity. They both just needed someone who would listen and maybe, just maybe, understand.

One night, Hermione found herself telling him about her break up with Ron. Everything from Harry's confrontation, to moving out, to physically confronting the Weasleys, to screaming at the Minister, to coming here to work with him. In her mind, she kept telling herself to stop and be quiet as she listened to herself tell him every last detail. She ordered herself to pull it together when she realized she was crying. But she had no control. It was like someone else had taken over her body, and she was trapped watching it. Draco remained silent the whole time, not wanting to give her a chance to rein herself back in. He'd realized something must have happened for her to be here, and that it must have been about the Weasel by the way she never spoke about him. But even he was shocked by the whole thing. He surprised them both with his anger at Ron and how adamantly he praised her for her actions, even going so far as to say he wished he'd been there to help her.

Confronted by Hermione's gaze, he knew he had to explain why he'd so suddenly broken their silent pact to simply be there and listen to each other. He'd been wrestling with wanting to share his story and fearing her reaction, but knew now was the time to do it. He told her about his arranged marriage to Astoria Greengrass, who was obviously less than pleased with the whole affair. But as a pure-blood supremacist of the truest kind, she'd gone through with it and become perhaps the coldest wife in history. He had done the right thing, trying to make the marriage work, if only of the sake of their young children, but she simply pushed him away.

A few months before coming to work with Hermione, he'd come home to find Astoria with another man in their bed. It was obvious she'd wanted to be caught. Then, while in the act, she proudly told him how she'd been fucking anything with a dick just for the chance to further sully the Malfoy name. She knew he'd ungratefully betrayed his father, and was stupid enough to think that such scum like mudbloods was actually worthwhile. The blows kept coming when he found out that not only were none of his children his own but that despite their age they, and just about everyone else in their social circle, knew it too and had been taught to regard their biological fathers as their 'true daddies'. It certainly explained why the toddlers never seemed to want anything to do with him. By the end of that week, Draco had kicked them all out of the manner and filed for divorce. By the end of the month, the papers were signed and Draco was once again left alone in the world with only his mother for companionship.

That night Draco and Hermione shed more than a few tears for themselves and each other. They hugged each other, sharing and taking whatever comfort they could gleam from the tight embrace that lasted well after they fell asleep. Since that night, they only grew closer in every way possible and while Draco never had a single light bulb moment, like the other men, there was no denying he regarded Hermione as a little sister, only closer, and loved her more than he'd ever loved his wife.

Their close relationship was already raising eyebrows in their occasional correspondence home and baffled every one they met along the way. They knew they'd both face much more adversity when the time came to return home, but neither was too concerned. Having been so firmly protected and supported by 'her three musketeers' was finally teaching Hermione to value herself more. It was amazing what a huge difference such a short time under their influence made one her and Draco easily picked up on the significance of her friendship with the men, even though she had yet to figure it out herself.

The most important thing was that Hermione wanted to remain close to Draco, public opinion be damned, and Draco was determined to never lose his new found bond with Hermione. She'd shown him kindness, forgiveness and loyalty like he'd new seen before. She'd been the only one to extend the companionship he so desperately sought for.

Draco may not have ever experienced a true 'light-bulb' moment, but he knew that Hermione had earned a level of trust and loyalty that rivaled that of his mother. He was determined to show the affection that had blossomed, and proudly play the protective big brother role for the remainder of their time working together, and continue to uphold it when the time came to return home.

* * *

Thanks so much for following the series! I'll now be returning my focus to Accountant's Assistant, please follow along. :)

Reviews make the pen flow faster...


End file.
